Reward Based Training (RBT) is very effective when the user
has a good understanding of the steps to building a solid foundation for
commands and behaviors. One of the basic concepts of RBT is knowing the
difference between luring and rewarding and when to use each one. Many times,
raisers easily get these two training concepts mixed up and/or use the wrong
one at the wrong time. This Blue Cape Journal entry, we will be focusing on
LURING.
What is the
difference between luring and rewarding?
“Luring” is the act of attracting the dog with something
like a food reward into the desired position and then giving the dog the food.
An appropriate time to use luring in your pup’s training is when your dog is
just beginning to learn a specific behavior. By incorporating the “yes” marker
word with the act of luring, your puppy will quickly pick up new behaviors,
leaving you to fade out the lure and continue to just use the hand and verbal
signals.
“Rewarding” is when you give the food reward AFTER the pup
has performed the learned behavior when using just your hand and verbal
signals. When at the “reward” stage of training, you will not hold treats in
your hand as you ask your dog to perform behaviors. Instead, your treats will
be in a treat pouch, pocket, or elsewhere, and you will reach for the treat
after giving the “yes” marker word.
How do I effectively
use luring to begin training a behavior?
Something to keep in mind when using a treat as a lure is
that your hand/treat will act as a magnet that will draw your puppy to wherever
you need to lead him. You can try this by putting a treat in your hand, showing
it at pup’s nose level, and walking around a chair. Your pup will enthusiastically
follow your hand. This is fun for your puppy, especially if you release the
treat into their mouth! By using this natural drive to manipulate your pup’s
body, you can begin to train ANY behavior needed for our program. Here are some
tips to using luring for training.
- Make sure you have a clear idea of how to move your lure to achieve the desired behavior. If you are unsure how to lure a “sit,” for example, then you should not try figuring it out while the puppy is there and trying to follow your hand as you make different movements to get comfortable with the lure movements. Instead, practice without pup, then bring pup out. If you are unsure how to do a specific movement, please ask your AC at your next meeting.
- Your pup needs to know that a lure is present. If you have a small pup and are just beginning to teach a behavior, make sure you put the treat directly in front of pup’s nose and go slow with your movements. If you go too fast, the pup is likely to lose the lure and you will not be successful. Keep your hand at the pup’s nose level and don’t go too high with your hand. If you go too high, you will find that your pup starts jumping up to try and follow the lure.
- Use the “YES” marker word protocol. With lure in hand, ask for behavior, move lure to get pup to move into position, say “yes” as pup hits the position, treat, praise, release.
- While holding the lure, keep your hand as close to the prescribed hand signal as possible. If a flat palm up is for “sit,” then don’t hold the lure with a fist as this does not look like what will be your hand signal later. Instead hold your palm flat and facing up, but hold the lure between your thumb and index finger. This will help your pup transition off of the lure more quickly and will keep your body language more clear for the pup.
- Only lure for a very short time. The point of a lure is to teach the dog how to move his body in the direction you want and to gain some muscle memory when hearing your verbal signal and seeing your hand signal. There is not set amount of times you should lure a behavior, but as soon as your pup is easily moving into position, you should consider getting rid of the lure. For some behaviors this might only be a handful of times a lure is needed. For other behaviors, you might have to lure for a good week.
- Lure the behavior in many locations. Dogs need our help to generalize behaviors. If I ask for a “sit” at home, I still want to easily ask my pup for a “sit” while on a walk or at a store. While in the luring phase of a behavior, you should make a real effort to lure the behavior a few times with every location change for your pup. This will teach the pup that the hand and verbal signals mean the same thing, despite your environment.
Luring Sits and Downs with Young Puppy from Puppy Kennel
Our next Blue Cape Journal entry will discuss how to move
from lure to rewards and tips for rewarding your pup. Stay tuned!
